Consequence
by kvanhee
Summary: Elena discovers the true extent of Damon's love for her... but is it all too late?   rated M for smut...  Also some Caroline, Tyler and Matt Drama...
1. Chapter 1

Elena came bounding into the boarding house slightly panicked. This was so wrong, everything that had happened with Klaus had gone so wrong, the only thing that had worked properly was the fact that Damon had given her his blood. That had kept her from dying but somehow it hadn't helped in saving her friends, Bonnie had shown up and Elena was beyond pissed off, she was furious, where the hell were Stefan and Damon? She needed them, as furious as she was at Damon right now, she needed him to help her out. She couldn't do this by herself, and she needed Stefan, she had kissed him goodbye and told him to trust her and that everything would be alright. It most definitely wasn't alright. When she went into the boarding house and called out for Stefan she couldn't hear anything, she was beginning to panick, to cringe, she needed them, she needed Stefan. Where the hell was he?

She was about to turn out the door and bolt again, but then she heard a crashing upstairs, she was upstairs faster than she anticipated, it freaked her out for a second before she headed towards the sound, there was a groan and a thump as something fell, Elena found herself in Damon's room without remembering how she'd gotten there. Damon turned around to look at her, Elena figured something wasn't quite right. He was slumping a bit and he looked different, she chalked it up to the fact that her senses were all over the place and watched him carefully as he moved in on her. She felt like crying at the sight of him, everything was wrong, she had never noticed how carefully he moved, how graceful and precise he moved across a room, and the muscles in his frame shifted beneath the shirt.

She couldn't fight the tears properly they came anyway, everything had gone completely wrong, Klaus was dead but so was everyone else and she couldn't find Stefan and she felt utterly panicked. Damon was watching her carefully, he placed a hand on her cheek and then closed his eyes before looking down at the floor.

"Elena-"

"It all went wrong Damon. Everything happened so quickly- I couldn't stop it- Jenna was- where were you?"

"Elena I'm sorry." There was something wrong with him, he never apologized.

"Damon what happened?" he reached out for her and held her to him, another thing he never did, Elena was always the one to initiate a hug from Damon. She couldn't comprehend how good it felt to have his arms around her and she felt herself cave, she felt herself give into him and lean into his frame. She needed him right now, and he felt exceptionally warm, she'd never noticed it before, she always thought Damon and Stefan were a bit too cool, it gave away the fact that they weren't quite human, but now she could feel his warmth through his shirt. She was outright sobbing into his chest now and Damon was cradling her. Elena couldn't believe how relieved she was to be near him, to smell his cologne and to feel his arms around her.

"Elena please look at me." He cupped her face in his big hands and got her to look up at him. She stifled the tears and the sobs that were welling up in her but the sadness that she found in his blue eyes made her want to cry all over again. There was something tragic in his eyes and Elena knew that there was something entirely wrong. "I am so sorry about what I did. I know you didn't want this but I- I couldn't take the chance of losing you."

"Damon I-" She knew why he'd done it, but she'd never expected to hear an apology from him.

"I did it because I love you Elena. I love you, and I need you to know. I need you to hear me say it."

"Damon stop." she didn't need to hear this now, she knew he loved her and she knew that he would give up his life to save her but this wasn't right. Something was wrong, she wasn't sure what had brought up this sudden confession in him but she felt the sudden need to be far away from here. "Don't do that, it's not fair." She moved away from him but he took her by the hands and looked at her pleadingly.

"I know it's not fair. It's never been fair, I've loved you since the first time I saw you and you love Stefan. I love you so much I'll let him have you if that's will make you happy. I'm being selfish telling you this but I love you Elena." She shook her head but he refused to stop and it was so unfair, it was unfair to him and Stefan but it wasn't fair to her, it was definitely not fair to her. "I love you." He whispered and she frowned at him.

"You can't do that. Why do you do that?" She hated this, why did he insist on putting her in this position it wasn't fair, she wasn't Katherine, she couldn't belong to both brothers no matter how much she loved them both. She had chosen Stefan, she loved Stefan, he knew that. This was completely unfair. Damon looked slightly amused at her anger as if it told him something and she wanted desperately to do something to wipe that smirk off his face. Instead though he kissed her, his lips softer and warmer than she'd expected and she found herself closing her eyes instinctively. His cologne was making her dizzy and warm but she somehow tried to fight back against him. She opened her mouth to protest but he mistook it as an invitation, his tongue licked along the very edge of her lips and Elena couldn't believe how much she was shaking in anticipation, she'd forgotten about everything else except the fact that she wanted Damon. She wanted him pressing into her. She curled her fingers in his dark hair and rocked her hips against his, allowing him to pull her closer. She was writhing up against him, unaware of the fact that they might get caught any moment and Damon pulled away only a moment long enough to place soft feathery kisses in Elena's neck, his movements sending her reeling. His hands were so much softer than she'd ever anticipated as they started to run up her shirt.

"We should stop." The words were out before she could think about them, she didn't really want to stop, the moans that were coming from Damon's throat were a strong indication that he had no intention of doing such a thing. And then he started kissing a spot just beneath her ear, she couldn't believe that anyone could kiss her like that and all words were lost to her. They were replaced by moans and whimpers. She had dreamt about Damon before, she'd forced herself to forget about it or chalked it up to the fact that Damon liked messing with her head, but this. She wanted this. She ran her slender hands up his chest and started unbuttoning his shirt, still grinding her hips against his, she could feel his erection through his jeans. Damon's hands were cupping her breasts and ass, and they were now staggering towards the bed. She was caught up in the heat of his breath and the sound of his voice as he moaned her name into her lips and neck. They were caught up in gropes and kisses as she got rid of his shirt, her t-shirt and bra disappeared and Elena found herself lying on the bed with Damon on top of her. She couldn't remember ever wanting anything so badly as his kisses as they appeared all over her body, she closed her eyes at the feeling of his tongue on her nipples. She turned them over only for a moment, with her new-found strength they were more equally matched, and she took pleasure in the sounds that were coming from him, the fact that she was the cause of them was making her head spin.

"Christ Elena!" She couldn't help but smile when her kisses set him on edge like this. He didn't let her continue though, he flipped her over on the bed and kissed her deeply and passionately. His hands running through her hair and over her breasts before his fingers caressed her thighs so lightly it gave her goosebumps. Elena knew she was in dangerous territory, that little voice that was always there rationalizing what happened to her around Damon was now being smothered and forgotten as his hands trailed all over her body and she was pleading for him not to stop.

"Damon I need you-" She didn't need to finish the sentence, she couldn't even if she tried, but Damon knew, he seemed to know her body so much better than Stefan ever had. Stefan lingered in her head for only a second, she should have felt guilty and terrified but instead all she could think about was Damon, the warm smell of his cologne and the feeling of his lips on her skin. She gasped as he pressed into her, he filled her completely and utterly and suddenly another hunger was welling up in her as he pushed her over and over again and was close to setting her off. But she wasn't ready for it yet, she moved him so that she was on top of him, straddling him, as she ran her hands all over his beautiful chest, there was an elegance to every line of his body and Elena couldn't believe that it belonged to her. Damon sat up, holding her closely to his chest so that they were intertwined in every way possible as he breathed into her ear and told her that he loved her again. Elena nearly cried with pleasure as he shook her, every touch from him made her feel like she'd never been truly touched or seen before. Damon saw her, he knew her body like no one else ever had, or ever would she thought. He moved her truly and deeply and shook her to the core so hard that it sent her head flying. She loved him, God she loved him.

At the realization of this she stopped for a moment, staring into Damon's cool blue eyes with dark passion blazing from her own. She loved Damon Salvatore. Her breath shook as she processed this, the man in her arms was the man she would love, always.

"Oh Damon." She whimpered letting him pull her back down where they became entangled with sheets. Damon moved slower, agonizingly so, keeping Elena close and wherever he touched her he left a burning scar of his caress to linger on her skin. She wanted to memorize every part of him, every moan and inflection, every breath on her skin, the smell of his skin that was steadily enveloping her. Damon's movements suddenly became more rapid and Elena rocked into him, clinging to him as he pushed her over the edge and had her crying out for him. She felt weak and exhausted and never had she felt so exposed and beautiful in front of anyone else.

"I love you Damon." It came out in a quiet cry right close to his ear, she felt his breath hitch beneath her as she placed a kiss in his neck and shoulder. "Oh Damon, I've been so stupid. But I love you. I love you. I love _you. _It will only ever be you." He held her for what seemed like forever and Elena thought she must have dozed off for a few moments. When she woke up she was lying on her back and Damon was sprawled across her, his head resting on her belly, she could feel his eyelashes fluttering against her skin and she smiled. It had felt like years since she'd been so perfectly and irrevocably happy. She couldn't remember it ever being like this with Stefan. She was about to say something but Damon coughed in an odd way, and he flinched as if something was hurting him. He turned without moving his head from her stomach but he doubled over slightly, gripping something to his chest and Elena moved to sit up. She was suddenly worried.

"Damon what's wrong?" He moved off the bed at the sound of her voice and was across the room, but he'd forgotten that he wasn't the only vampire in the room anymore. He had been the cause of that. She moved towards him and put her hands to his cheeks. He seemed too warm, for a vampire that is. Though it was hard to tell, she wasn't exactly human herself anymore so she wasn't sure what his temperature was supposed to feel like.

"I'm fine Elena." He moved to take her hands in his but then she noticed, her eyes widened and she grabbed hold of his arm looking at the wound on his forearm.

"Damon?" she knew her voice sounded slightly panicked but she had never in her life felt so scared. She couldn't lose Damon, this couldn't happen now. Not now, not ever. She had wasted all this time denying him what should have been his all along, and now she had finally given it to him he was slipping away. She suddenly grasped his apologies, his sudden confession of his undying love for her, except he was dying. "No." She shook her head and wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could, tears were coming to her now. She just found him, she had finally truly seen him and now he was being taken away. "No, no-" Damon cut her off and moved back only far enough so he could place his hands on her cheeks. He rubbed the tears away with his thumbs and kissed her gently. He was smiling, the bastard, how could he smile at a time like this? She loved him, she needed him. She couldn't lose him now.

"You can't die. I can't lose you, Damon. Not you. This isn't right." She was shaking her head again but Damon only smiled looking down at her with blue eyes that were much too bright. "No I love you, I love you-" She repeated it as if it would save him, as if just the words being said would somehow keep him with her, where he belonged.

"I love you Elena." he held her a bit tighter to him and smiled down at her. "It just turns out that forever isn't as long as either of us thought it would be." 

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><p><strong><strong>

**Please don't be upset... I know it's slightly tragic, and it is a one shot, and though I seriously doubt that they'll actually kill off Damon on the show, this simply popped into my head after the last episode where Damon gets bitten. If you want a more happy ending you should read my other story... Waiting On An Angel... much more Delena goodness in that one :) please review though...**

**The song that partially inspired this was Consequence by The Notwist**


	2. Are You Alright?

**Author's note**:_ just like my previous Delena story... considering the reviews and the comments I received from posting this, and from friends that started reading it I have gotten multiple pleas not to end this as a Oneshot... and so I shall be continuing this story, however I don't expect to make it extremely long (then again I said that last time as well), since Klaus is already dead, and well, I'm not sure what's going to happen with Damon and Elena. _

_Please don't get too anxious, this sort of came to me very suddenly, but I've grown quite fond of Caroline and Tyler... and so this sort of happened. It's meant both as a filler, (while I figure out what to do with Damon) but it also offers a glimpse into a story that I've been wanting to write for Caroline and Tyler... I thought it would work out well if I just incorporated the two and had them running alongside each other... That isn't to say that what happens in this chapter is fluff... it most certainly isn't, not in my opinion, it was very difficult and emotional for me to write this, and so I hope you enjoy :)_

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><p>"Tyler!" Caroline burst past the gate the moment Tyler had changed back. She'd forgotten what this was like, she'd almost, almost forgotten about Tyler. But him showing up back at the hospital and then being trapped. She couldn't believe how she'd stayed mad at him for so long. She tore off her jacket which was about ten sizes too small for him but at least it would somewhat cover him. He was shaking on the ground, eyes shut and but-naked. Caroline wasn't phased by it though, all she could think of was the fact that he was in pain. And she knew he was in pain, she remembered the first time, it would haunt her forever. She covered him with her jacket and then reached out for him, Tyler finally moved and rested his head into her lap, he always felt eerily warm, like he was constantly running a fever but then she had gotten used to that too. He relaxed finally, the shaking stopped and Caroline realized that he'd been gripping her hand and she'd pretty much been cradling him.<p>

"Caroline?" He looked dazed as he looked around the room and then shut his eyes again, exhausted Caroline knew what it took out of him.

"What the hell was that?" Matt, how could she have forgotten about Matt? What was she supposed to do now. Why the hell had he shown up, and where the hell did he get wooden bullets? This was so disastrous Caroline was having a hard time keeping her head straight, she wasn't good at managing other people's disasters, she had too many mini-crisis of her own to deal with other people. And now she had to juggle Matt and Tyler at the same time. "He's a werewolf?"

"Yes!"

"Well why didn't you tell me that? You told me you were a vampire!"

"It's not my business to tell!" Caroline yelled back, not sure why they were yelling in the first place. And she still hadn't moved from holding onto Tyler. His warmth somehow felt soothing to her, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do here. She was definitely not good at this, this was Elena's thing, she was good at preventing drama. "Look Matt, now is not the time to discuss this, we need to get Tyler somewhere safe. Can you get your car closer?" Matt stared at her, partially in shock and definitely beyond pissed off but Caroline couldn't think of anything better to do right now, one thing at a time. She thought. First get Tyler out of here, and then we'll deal with the rest.

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><p>The ride back to the Salvatore boarding house was beyond awkward. Between Tyler half naked in the backseat and Matt pissed off and then Caroline who was currently feeling beyond guilt ridden she didn't know what to do with herself. She should have been more careful with Matt, she should never have told him, and she should have told Tyler from the start what the whole curse situation was about. She didn't know what had happened to Damon, Elena and Stefan. She didn't know if they were alright, or if Klaus was dead or if Bonnie was okay, there were too many things running through her head right now.<p>

"Can I borrow your phone?" She looked over to Matt who was reluctantly driving to Stefan and Damon's house. He looked at her angrily for a second but then he shrugged and pointed at the glove compartment. Elena's number was on speed dial, she forced herself to hide the tiny surge of jealousy that ran through her, she'd resigned herself to the fact that Matt would probably always have a thing for Elena.

"_**Hello?"**_ Elena's voice rang out from the other side and Caroline breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh my god Elena, thank god you're okay. Is Bonnie alright? What happened?"

"Wait what does Bonnie have to do with this?" Matt interrupted and Caroline just shushed him with a rather rude wave of her hand. Elena was crying.

"_**Bonnie's hurt really badly, and Jenna's-" **_More sobs as Elena's voice broke off a bit and Caroline felt like she might burst into tears herself. _"__**I don't know where Stefan is. They used Jules for the ceremony, she's dead. And- Damon's hurt, he got bit-**_" Caroline couldn't believe how distressed Elena sounded over Damon, she thought that Elena's first concern would have been Stefan, not that she hadn't seen this coming but she hadn't expected this. Hearing Elena on the phone like this, the only other time she'd been like this was when her parents had died.

"What?" Damn Tyler and his werewolf hearing. Caroline turned into her seat to look at Tyler, she gave him the most apologetic look as he buried his head into his hands. "Tell Damon I'm sorry." He mumbled behind his hands and Caroline heard Elena cry harder.

"Elena, please tell me that it worked at least. Is Klaus dead?"

"_**Yeah he is. But-" **_Elena was crying really hard.

"It doesn't feel worth it." Caroline finished her sentence and sunk back into her seat in the car and felt tears running down her cheeks though she refused to let them overpower her. She was beyond that. "We're on our way to the boarding house, Tyler needs a place to crash and get changed. Does Bonnie need anything, will she be alright?"

"_**Jeremy's with her. I-" **_Elena took a deep breath at least she wasn't crying anymore but Caroline could hear the sniffling through the phone.

"I'm on my way Elena, Matt is too. We need to talk to him by the way." she figured having Elena as backup was a good idea, add onto that, it would distract Elena and she was better at this sort of thing. Clearly Caroline was so bad at explaining things that Matt had gone out and made himself wooden bullets.

"_**Matt?"**_

"I'll explain it when I see you." She hung up the phone then and turned to look at Tyler who looked absolutely guilt-ridden.

"Tyler this isn't your fault."

"If I hadn't come back, that guy wouldn't have his werewolves, Jules would be alive, Damon wouldn't have gotten bitten. Bonnie wouldn't be hurt. This _is _my fault Caroline."

"That's ridiculous and I thought you didn't like Damon."

"I still don't, but I don't want to hurt anyone either."

"Tyler-"

"It could've been you Caroline." He looked at her seriously, his dark eyes locking angrily with hers, he was trying to get her angry, the way he always did when he was trying to push her away. She knew it and recognized it because it was the same thing she did to people.

"Well it wasn't." She said firmly and then turned in her seat to look out the window again. Matt was being perfectly silent and Caroline couldn't believe the predicament she was in right now. A vampire, a werewolf and a human all stuck in an old beat-up car. It sounded like the beginning of a bad joke.

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><p>"So do you want to explain to me what Bonnie has to do with everything? And how the hell is he a werewolf?" Matt pointed at Tyler as if he were some kind of monster and Caroline felt angry at that, if he was a monster then so was she. She thought after all his heroic attempts tonight he would be more agreeable by the time they got to the boarding house and Tyler had gotten showered and changed. Elena was considerably upset about this whole situation, add onto that that she was now a vampire herself, Matt was beyond upset. He was slightly manic as he was taking in this entire situation.<p>

"Bonnie's a witch Matt."

"And who did that to her?" He scanned the room accusingly as Damon moved into the room he gave Matt one of those serious frowns that implied he was being stupid.

"Nobody _did _anything to Sabrina. She was like that when we found her." He was half-joking but he was cranky and drinking an abnormal amount of blood Caroline had noticed. This was definitely not good.

"Sabrina?" Matt shook his head. "You think this is funny?"

"Matt, Bonnie was born a witch, her bloodline goes all the way back to Salem. The same as Tyler, he was born with the curse of a werewolf."

"Well what the hell man? I've known you your whole life, you didn't think that was something worth mentioning?"

"First of all, this all didn't start until a few months ago. And second of all; you wouldn't have believed me, best friends or not. You're having a panic attack as we speak and you expect me to slide that in when exactly? During football practise?"

"Matt we couldn't tell you." Elena was about to explain to him the council and everything but she got the most furious look from him Caroline had ever seen.

"Mathew Honeycutt now you listen to me carefully!" Caroline spoke up severely, she had quite enough of his judgemental attitude, they didn't need it right now, clearly he was working with someone on the council or he wouldn't have gotten a hold of those wooden bullets and right now, their friends were all hurt, some were dying and she couldn't be bothered to deal with his self-righteous attitude. "I don't care if you decide that you're for or against this whole supernatural thing but let me get one thing straight, not a single person in this room asked to become what they are. This _happened _to us, we didn't chose it and we've been fighting for the survival of this town ever since it did happen. You can hate me all you want Matt that's fine but don't you dare judge us for the choices we didn't get to make."

Matt looked at her carefully, he looked surprised at her sudden tone but he seemed to calm down a bit. "What do you mean you've been fighting for the town?" He asked then. Elena started explaining as much as she could until Tyler and Caroline took over in certain parts. There were things that Matt needed to know about the town's secret council and the werewolf curse, and then there was Bonnie's history and the involvement of the founding families. Caroline didn't realize how much information there was to process until they had gone through it all. Tyler apparently had done some digging into his own family history and there was a lot there about the founding families that the rest of them didn't know about. By the end of it Matt looked slightly sick.

"So you've all grown up on this stuff? I mean does the whole town-?"

"No just the founding families, and we didn't really grow up on it. The council only gets together when they see that there's been vampire attacks or something."

"Sheriff Forbes didn't say anything about a council."

"Wait you've been talking to my mom?" Caroline suddenly felt beyond betrayed, her mother, her own mother hadn't said a thing, hadn't confronted her which meant that either she was in denial or she was planning something. Caroline sat down quietly and tried to grasp what this meant.

"Caroline, I didn't mean to do anything I just-"

"What did you do?" Tyler asked him, not accusingly but steadily and Caroline could tell he was worried.

"Everything Caroline told me." Now it was Caroline's turn to feel sick. "I didn't know that there was like a whole group of people planning something. And she kept saying that you weren't- you know- _you- _anymore." Caroline felt the tears come back to her this time, she knew what her mother thought of vampires, she knew that Elizabeth Forbes wouldn't be able to look past what she'd become. She felt terrified of this situation, she'd been through it before and this time it was worse, every time her mother's love for her daughter was tested it didn't overpower her sense of duty to the council and the town. And it was heartbreaking. Caroline had never been close to her mother, but she was her mom. And she'd used her boyfriend to get information from her, like she was the enemy. Caroline sunk her head into her hands and felt the sobs coming back to her. This was way too much to handle in one night, how the hell did Elena manage all this drama?

"Matt, did you tell them about Bonnie?"

"No I didn't even know but the Sheriff was worried because she thought all the Gilbert's were in on it, and she thought that Damon was the mastermind or something." Damon snorted at that but when Caroline looked up he looked pale and he took another swig from his drink. Elena with her new-found vampire speed was up at his side before Caroline realized that he was wavering. He'd almost sunk through his knees, he really wasn't okay. Elena put a hand to his cheek and Caroline suddenly realized why Elena had been so heart-breakingly upset at Damon's wounds, she gave Elena a meaningful look as she quietly took Damon out of the room and Caroline fixed her mind back on her own problems.

"Why would you tell her those things Matt?"

"Caroline I-"

"You don't understand do you?" he looked at her dumbstruck but now she was upset, she was angry at him and her mother, the two people she truly cared about, she'd never lay a hand on them, even now_, _she couldn't hurt them, couldn't even picture doing such a thing. And they had betrayed her. Conspired against her and her friends when all she'd ever done was try to protect them and this town. "All we have ever done is protect this place. I told you that, I told you everything, I trusted you. When she tells the rest of the council they'll come after us. They'll hunt us down and they'll kill us, Tyler and Elena too. Bonnie will probably be killed for being a witch and who knows what they'll do to Jeremy and Ric for helping us." She said in an exasperated breath shaking her head, truly scared of what might happen for the first time.

"Come on they wouldn't do that!"

"They would Matt, god how can you be so stupid!" She stood up to look him in the eye angrily and felt Tyler put a hand on her forearm to stand in between them, she wouldn't hurt Matt, not now and not ever but she felt relieved at Tyler's presence.

"She's right Matt, the council has been around for over two centuries, they'll kill us without considering what our motives were. They won't listen to us because they believe we're some kind of monsters who only imitate the people we used to be and we lie to get our way." Caroline couldn't believe how steady Tyler's voice was, they had been best friends since they were babies and now his best friend had sold them all out to the council. She felt beyond betrayed she felt broken and it wasn't all Matt's fault but she thought she could have at least trusted him. She had thought that he would at least come to her, confront her or something before he did something stupid. She slumped back down in the couch and felt the sobs returning to her as she felt how hurt she was, all the sacrifices they'd made, the hurt they'd gone through, the things that she'd done to keep Matt safe all seemed so worthless now. She wanted to crawl away somewhere and hide, the relationships she had, the friendships, they couldn't be worth all this, all the pain and the betrayal, the secrecy and death. It wasn't worth it.

Tyler spoke to Matt in low undertones and Caroline couldn't hear them anymore, she was lost in the fact that she was alone, Bonnie might die, Damon was dying, she didn't know where Stefan was and Tyler would probably leave the first chance he got. And her own mother hated her, even Matt who she thought loved her had hurt her so bad, she didn't think it could ever be fixed. She felt completely and utterly alone and scared for the first time in her life Caroline Forbes had no plan at all.

She sunk into the armchair she was sitting in and brought her legs up to her chest, sobbing into her knees and praying that she could just fall asleep and go somewhere else. It was entirely childish and impossible but she was seventeen for Christ's sake, she shouldn't be a vampire, she shouldn't have to fight to survive, she shouldn't have to watch her friends dying. Her life shouldn't hang by a thread on the condition that their truth be kept a secret.

"Caroline?" Tyler's voice rang out above her cries, his hands appeared on her knees as he tried to pry her out of her little shell. She couldn't stop crying though and she didn't want to come out from her little shelter but Tyler was exceptionally strong as he unfolded her gently."Caroline please look at me." His voice was so steady, he was being so sincere but Caroline didn't feel soothed because she knew he would want to leave soon. He wouldn't stay here, he would up and disappear again, like he had the last time. Caroline finally looked up at him when he placed a hand on each side of her cheeks and she found him looking at her big honest brown eyes staring back at her with a searching look and Caroline suddenly found herself laughing. She was so upset that she was desperate for something to make her laugh and it took Tyler by surprise clearly since he was chuckling nervously looking at her for a reason to the laughter. "You alright?"

"Puppy eyes." She said between another fit of giggles as she let him pull her out of the armchair and hold her in his arms. He laughed then too but he was confused.

"What?"

"You do that look, the big puppy eyes." her laughter died down a bit again as she hugged him back and took in the smell of him, that warm heady scent that right now made her want to cry. He made her feel safe and it wasn't fair because he would leave her and hurt her all over again. She felt the tears come back to her, she didn't want him to leave, she'd missed him so much, she'd been hurt more than she'd even realized when he'd just left without saying goodbye. He would break her heart if he did that again.

"Are you okay Caroline?" He whispered into her neck and Caroline shook her head, clinging to him as if she could keep him here just by holding on. Everyone and anyone who knew what she really was, either died or hated her for it. And it was too much to bare, she couldn't be like Damon, she couldn't just turn off a switch and spend forever alone. She cried again and shook her head.

"It's not fair." she knew she sounded like a child, but she didn't care, Tyler moved back just far enough so he could look into her eyes, Caroline rested her hands against his chest, her fingers lingering over his collarbone. "Everyone's dying and hurt. And my mom-" The feeling that she'd lost her mom wouldn't leave her, and it hurt more than anything in the world. Her mother hated her, hated what she was. She hated her so much that she'd used Matt against her and her friends. "What am I supposed to do now?" She asked Tyler because she didn't know who else to ask. She had no one else, suddenly it didn't matter if he was leaving again, she had him for now, he was here for her now.

"We'll figure it out." She shook her head at that.

"What am I going to do when you leave again?" She couldn't believe that she'd actually said the words but they were true, she missed him. He understood her probably better than anyone else, if Tyler's mother knew what he really was she would probably react in a similar way as her mother. It was part of the reason he'd left she figured.

"Caroline. I'm not going anywhere." He was being completely serious, he wasn't lying and Caroline suddenly felt herself relax, as if he had physically taken some of the weight onto himself. She cried again, feeling luckier this time, she was just a huge mess tonight but she felt she kind of had a right to be. "I promise I won't leave you again." She was slightly surprised at how he'd decided to phrase that but she'd never felt more grateful when she looked up at him again and he smiled at her, putting a hand to her cheek she closed her eyes at the warmth.

She leaned in and kissed him lightly on the edge of his lips, lingering, slightly unsure of what she'd just done. It felt so right though, and when Tyler turned his head he captured her lips in his and pulled her closer to him, suddenly making her feel better than she had in ages. His strong arms enveloped her as he kissed her sweetly and made her feel safe once again, and Caroline believed him when he said they would figure it out. Together.

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><p><em><strong>*sigh* This was difficult to write, mainly because the complex relationship between Tyler and Caroline reminds me a lot of me and a 'friend' of mine... minus the whole vampirewerewolf thing ;)**_

_**I've actually become a big fan of the whole Caroline-Tyler thing on the show, I think they would make a very sweet, if not very complicated couple... Anyway in the next chapter I shall address Damon and his predicament with Elena again... I'm not entirely sure where this is going, because originally it was meant to be written as a oneshot for Damon and Elena, instead it has turned into... well... this... **_

_**Reviews and suggestions are more than welcome :) I really enjoy reading your opinions, so thank you for the ones I have already received, I hope you enjoyed this.**_

_**Title for this chapter is from Are You Alright by Lucinda Williams. It seemed fitting for Caroline and Tyler... **_


	3. May Angels Lead You In

**Author's note:** _Following chapter is not as emotionally up and down as the previous one, but it's still nice... it's a little bit of a filler... but I hope you enjoy anyway... _

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><p>Elena had finally convinced Damon to sit down, it turned out werewolf bite or not he was still stubborn as hell. He had agreed to go up to his room, but then he'd scoured his drawers without listening to her to rest, finally producing a silver bracelet with Lapis Lazuli pendant on it, he'd had a spell put on it when he'd given her blood and Elena frowned slightly at the memory. The bracelet wasn't new though, it looked like an antique and then she softened.<p>

But it didn't help the fact that she was worried. Elena cringed every time she saw him flinch or close his eyes against the pain and it would only get worse she new that. She was terrified right now, the sight of him made her want to cry only because she wanted him to be here for her, she wanted to spend this forever with him. She loved Damon Salvatore and she didn't know where to go from here. What was she supposed to do now?

And then there was Stefan, she couldn't even grasp what this would do to him, losing his brother and realizing that his girlfriend was in love with him. She couldn't think straight, what she'd done wa so, so, so wrong. But she found herself not caring, there was no guilt and no second thought that if she had been in the same situation she would have done it all over again. It was so precious, so different and intimate in a way that it had never been with Stefan. Damon was part of her, he was one half of her, he was all she thought she would ever need and now she was slowly watching him slip away.

"Caroline and Tyler are about to do the dirty downstairs." Damon finally spoke and pulled Elena to lean into him. She giggled at that, she could hear Caroline and Tyler too now, and what they were doing was definitely considered making out. But the humour that brought her only lasted a few seconds, she realized that Damon was trying to comfort her and everything was all wrong here. He was the one who was dying and she was the one that was heartbroken about it.

"Damon." She breathed and then she felt as if she might cry again, she swallowed back tears at the thought that she might never get to say his name again.

"Elena?" He answered the way he always did, in a slightly mocking tone and Elena did cry then. She sat up and held onto him crying into his neck as she felt his hands wander on her back before they settled on her hips and she leaned back a bit. She couldn't miss this, she couldn't be robbed from this.

"How can you be so calm about all of this?"

"I love you." He said steadily and even smiled at her. The tears stopped and she closed her eyes burying her head into the crook of his neck. Memorizing the way he smelled and the feeling of him so close to her. "I get to love you now Elena. It's worth everything, all the pain, it's all worth it as long as I get to love you right now." That wasn't fair she thought. It was so unfair for so many reasons. He would love her, and Elena knew now that he loved her far beyond anything she'd ever known, his love for her _was _forever. With Stefan she'd never been sure where it was going but with Damon, it was never-ending. It would be for her too, even if he died. She couldn't see herself ever recovering from loving him. And all of it happened overnight. How could she not have seen him so clearly before. She felt stupid and angry at herself for not knowing before, for denying him something that clearly had belonged to him all along.

"I love you so much it hurts Damon." She looked into his eyes again, they were clearer at the moment, he had moments that were really bad and then other times where he seemed to be almost completely fine. "I just wish we had more time. This is so unfair." Damon smiled and kissed her gently on the top of her head.

"We've got more than enough time, for all the important things we've got time." He leaned over and kissed her more possessively but it was still so much sweeter than Elena had ever imagined from Damon.

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><p>When Damon was finally asleep Elena quietly slipped out of the bed and into her clothes. He looked blissful now, but he'd flinched in his sleep already once or twice. He was also way too warm Elena didn't doubt it now that his temperature was at an abnormal high. She wanted to stay with him for as long as she had but she had the feeling that her time would be better spent finding a way to save him. She turned to look at him as he turned around in the bed onto his back and Elena had to leave the room before she cried again. Everything they did together seemed to be their last moments together and it wasn't right. Elena couldn't grasp how severely she was hit by all this. When she came out of the room she headed down the stairs but stopped halfway down and sank onto one of the steps, crying. For the umpteenth time in the last day or so. She'd lost track of time too, and she was tired and hungry. She cried tiredly slumping over the steps when she heard someone else's soft footsteps meet her halfway up the stairs. Caroline sat down next to her and put an arm around Elena, the girls always knew each other better than they knew themselves. Elena leaned into her friend and Caroline quietly waited until the sobs had calmed down.<p>

"You love Damon don't you?" She asked softly and Elena sat up straight and nodded.

"More than I ever thought I could. I love him so much-" Her breath hitched again, that's how much she loved him. She loved him so much that the thought of being without him made breathing impossible. "You love Tyler?" Elena looked up at Caroline and Caroline looked worried. Usually when Caroline cared about someone she was happy-go-lucky, whatever happens, happens kind of person but now she looked sad.

"It doesn't make any sense. But he- we-" Caroline shook her head. "He _knows _me." She finally said in a way that Elena understood. It was hard to explain how it felt. "He knows me like no one else ever has. He understands-" She broke off again and shook her head.

"You fit together." Elena finished for her, she understood. Damon fit for her. It was perfectly right and she didn't know what she'd been thinking all this time with Stefan. She cared about Stefan, but Damon. She was his, they belonged together. There was no other way for her to explain it.

"What are we going to do now?" Caroline said, leaning her head against Elena's the two girls sat like that, the way they had when they were little and they were sad about something. Like when Caroline's cat had died, but this was in no way comparable to that, and Bonnie's presence was missing.

"I don't know, we're pretty pathetic aren't we?" Elena actually managed to laugh a little. All she knew was that they had to do something. She couldn't just watch Damon die. Not now that she finally felt like she'd found him, discovered what it meant to be with him. She couldn't let go of that. She refused to do it.

Elena was hungry she realized but then Caroline produced, it seemed out of nowhere, a bag of blood and handed it to Elena who drank it faster than she thought. She'd forgotten how mind-reeling good it tasted. It sent her head flying and her whole body felt like it was humming by the time she was done. It was almost better than sex, almost.

Once she felt well-fed she had intended to get up and go do something useful, but Caroline and Elena both heard the front door to the boarding house open and the two of them rushed to find out who was coming in, it's not like Elena could stop them anyway, she was no longer human and the house was in her name, which meant that the boarding house now belonged to a vampire and anyone could come in. Stefan appeared with Katherine and Elijah at his sides, the odd company took Elena by surprise for a second but then Elena thought maybe Elijah would know a way to help Damon. He had to do something, he owed her didn't he? He was now the most powerful vampire, ever, and she had helped him get that way. He looked her over curiously and Elena thought maybe he knew already what she was thinking, it was hard to tell the extent of Elijah's powers. Stefan broke from his strange company and moved towards Elena, she was surprised that he just hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek, she thought it would have been strange but instead it felt like the same old gestures from him. She wondered if it had always been this superficial, slightly fake. She couldn't always have felt like this around Stefan could she? She did feel guilty though, right now Stefan thought absolutely nothing was wrong, and it was most definitely the wrong time to tell him that she'd slept with his brother. That she loved his brother.

"What's wrong? You've been crying." It figured Stefan could tell.

"Damon- he's-" Elena saw Stefan blanch, she'd never noticed before how subtly his facial expressions could change, she'd been too human but now she saw it, the sudden flash of worry, and love for his brother. "He's been bitten Stefan." Elena didn't have to hide her worry for Damon, Stefan knew that Elena had seen what it was like to die from a Werewolf bite, she'd been upset when it was Rose, of course she would be upset when it was Damon. Stefan just didn't know the extent of her distress for Damon. Katherine looked remarkably level considering the information that Elena was sharing with them and Klaus looked disinterested. Though his eyes were fixed on Elena. He knew, she thought. There was no other way to explain the look that was boring a hole through her skull.

"Where is he?"

"He's asleep upstairs." Stefan disappeared for a second and she turned to Elijah. "Is there something you can do? Please Elijah, I know Damon isn't your most favourite vampire, but please, if there is something you can-"

"I can't Elena. I don't know anything that would save him." Elena took a deep breath then, feeling desperate, she couldn't lose Damon, not Damon. Caroline appeared at her side and held onto her hand.

"Are you sure?" She asked Elijah and he turned to Elena, tilting her chin up to look at him.

"Elena, if I could I would have done it. If only for your sake. But there is nothing I can do. I suggest you spend time with him while you still have it. The only thing you can do is make him comfortable." Elena knew that was a lie, there was no comfort in this. She'd seen Rose die, she'd seen what it had done to Damon and now she would be forced to watch him die. She shook her head and sank to the floor, Caroline was at her side in under a second, stroking her back and she suddenly heard Tyler's voice too. Soothing her, her old friends were here but nothing could comfort her at the thought of Damon being lost to her.

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><p>Caroline watched Tyler pick Elena up off the floor and she felt a surge of relief at him being here. Elena hadn't been like this since her parents had died, and Caroline hadn't been very good at this back then either. Bonnie had been the one to run damage control, Caroline was merely there for comic relief. Caroline was the one who knew how to get everyone to laugh or cheer up even in situations like this, but she couldn't think of anything that would comfort Elena. She knew that Elena was beyond heartbroken. She remembered how it had been before, how Elena had been in bed for weeks, broken and in pain, both physically and emotionally. Bonnie and Caroline thought she would never recover from it, but she had. This time though, Caroline couldn't see how it could be fixed.<p>

Elena cried so hard she fell asleep in Caroline's lap, and when Caroline was positive that her friend was in a deep sleep she slipped away with Tyler outside. They needed to be somewhere where no one could hear. She pulled Tyler through the French doors and blinked at the sunlight. It was unnaturally bright, too warm and sunny for all this darkness to be surrounding them. This was all so wrong. Caroline frowned at the heat and walked a few feet away from the windows just in case. Tyler followed her silently and then turned to be in front of her.

"Are you alright?" He asked again and Caroline shook her head, but then he already knew that. He moved closer and took her up in his arms and Caroline felt herself relax into his warmth as she rested her head against his chest, he kissed the top of her head. And she thought hard on what she was supposed to do.

"Elena is so heartbroken that she can't function and Bonnie's- I don't even know how Bonnie's doing." She shrugged and shook her head some more. She felt steady as long as Tyler was here, as if he passed some of his strength to her, and she never felt more grateful. She looked up at him, into his dark eyes and hoped for an answer from him but he just looked back at her with those damn puppy eyes. Her friends were falling apart and that had never happened at the same time, it was always either Bonnie or Elena who had kept the three of them strong, and kept them all from immediate danger. But now they were both incapacitated and Caroline had never been so worried. "I have to do something Tyler. There has to be a way to reverse it." She moved away from him now, feeling as if it was finally her turn to take care of her friends and she couldn't let them down, but first things first. Damon's condition was pressing on her first. "How much longer does Damon have?"

"It's already been a day and a half, it depends from person to person, but probably not more than a day. Maybe two if he hangs on past the dementia." Caroline ignored the fact that Damon was going to get much, much worse before he would finally die. As much crap as he gave her, they had sort of become friends and she didn't want him to die. More than anything she wanted to spare Elena the heartbreak of losing Damon or watching him fall apart.

She looked at Tyler carefully who moved closer again and glanced past her to the house before he spoke in an undertone. "Look, we should go back to my house and go through my ancestor's journals. There's a bunch of stuff in there about the werewolf bites and stuff that I only glanced over, but if there's any chance of saving Damon we'll find it there."

"Tyler-" He held up a hand and looked at her seriously.

"I don't want you to get your hopes up okay? Jules said that there was nothing to cure it, and I believed her, don't get Elena's hopes up either, because if this doesn't pan out then she'll just hurt worse." Caroline nodded and frowned at that, but she was determined to find a way. There had to be something, if not to save Damon there had to at least be something to lessen the pain. Make it easier. Caroline swallowed hard at that, she didn't want to put Elena through losing him at all, the sound of her sobbing like that gripped Caroline so severely, the three girls had always been like sisters, they knew each other better than they knew themselves, and so Caroline _knew _that Elena wouldn't recover from this.

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><p>Elena didn't care who was in the room, Damon was reeling, he wasn't himself or it didn't seem so. He'd been drinking a lot of blood and it wasn't helping and right now he wasn't thinking straight. It had been hours and she didn't know where Caroline and Tyler had gone, though she didn't really care anymore. Damon was encroaching on Stefan, following him through the room, screaming about how it was all Stefan's fault and Stefan looked thoroughly hurt by all of this. Elena figured it had something to do with the fact that Damon actually talked differently, the way he phrased himself, the inflections of his voice made him sound like he was from a different time. When he finally grabbed hold of Stefan Elena intervened as quickly as she could she moved to stand right next to Damon and placed her hand gently on his arm. He turned to look at her and the veins around his eyes disappeared and his eyes became blue again. She smiled at the coolness of his eyes and moved her hand from his arm to his cheek.<p>

"Katherine? You're alive?" The mention of Katherine's name stung a bit, but Elena forced herself to remember that this Damon hadn't met Elena yet.

"No Damon, it's Elena."

"Elena?" He repeated and she saw something flip inside him, like something came crumbling down around him as he turned to her and she put her other hand against his chest. He closed his eyes and leaned his head into her hand. "Elena." He said more sure of himself before he opened his eyes. Elena smiled back up at him and waited, his eyes were brighter again, she wondered how long this would last. It hurt to see him like this. She wondered how bad the hallucinations would get too, Rose had been pretty bad but she couldn't imagine Damon chasing her through the house. "What just happened?" he looked at her questioningly and Elena knew that he couldn't remember and that scared him more than anything. She'd never seen Damon scared and it made her worry but instead of telling him what had happened she just smiled and said it didn't matter before she guided him back to the bed where he laid down heavily and rested his head in her lap. She would stay here forever if she could, she ran her fingers gently through is hair and watched him close his eyes and try to sleep. Something plagued him clearly though since he twitched and shifted in his sleep way too much for it to be restful.

When he was finally perfectly still Elena got up from the bed and left the room, but she broke down right outside the door, she wasn't sure how long she could put up with this. She'd lost people before, but this was different. Damon was literally slipping through her fingers and there was absolutely nothing she could do but stay with him. It would be unfair to him to stay away for her own sake. Damon needed her now more than ever and she needed to be with him, even if it would haunt her for the rest of her life, she had to be with him. Stefan came out of the room too eventually and he placed his arms around her, Elena leaned into him despite the fact that it wasn't him she wanted. She loved Stefan too, but she knew now that it would never be the same way she loved Damon. It would never be as intense and sincere as it was with Damon, she didn't sob anymore. Her crying had turned into silent tears as she would shake with her grief but she wouldn't let Damon hear her sobbing.

"You don't have to stay Elena. This isn't easy."

"No I want to-" She took a breath for a moment before she looked up at him. She couldn't tell him now, she might never tell him, maybe she would just disappear and never tell Stefan why she couldn't love him the same way she had. But she didn't think he needed to know right now that she loved Damon. "He needs both of us." Was all she said instead and watched him nod seriously in agreement. She moved away then, braving herself to go back into that room.

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><p>"Seriously Jeremy if you put one more helping on my plate I swear I'm going to-"<p>

"What Bonnie?" He ignored her as he put a third helping of Mac n' Cheese on her plate. Bonnie figured it was the only thing apart from eggs that Jeremy knew how to cook. And although she'd never been the type to worry too much about her figure this was starting to get ridiculous.

"You're being ridiculous Jeremy, I'm fine."

"You just slept for thirty-six hours straight, you're not fine." He said determinedly moving around the table and coming to sit next to her. "I'm your boyfriend and I'm allowed to stuff you with junk-food if I want to."

"Oh yeah where is that written?"

"The bible." He snickered when Bonnie rolled her eyes. She wasn't going to argue with him when he was bound and determined to tease her. She would walk right into something that he would find endlessly funny and then wouldn't ever let her live it down. She leaned back though, truly feeling stuffed, there was no way she'd be able to finish that plate, Jeremy moved his arm around her and she found herself instinctively leaning into him. Resting her head on his shoulder, she couldn't deny that she still felt tired, she had used up way too much of herself in order to kill Klaus, and in the end she hadn't even been able to do it herself. She'd weakened him just enough so that Jeremy could get close enough. She hadn't expected him to show up with the knife, he shouldn't have been there at all, but leave it to Jeremy to do what he was told not to.

"You tired?" He asked her and she was about to respond to that, feeling as though it was ridiculous for her to still be tired but she was actually exhausted when there was a loud banging on Jeremy's door.

"It's Caroline." Bonnie said just as Jeremy was getting up from his seat to open the door.

"How do you do that?" He asked jokingly, but the truth was Bonnie wasn't sure how she did that, she always knew when it was Elena or Caroline. She just got this warm fuzzy feeling as if she was six again and she knew that it was her friends. As expected Caroline came bursting through the door and smiled only briefly at Bonnie.

"What happened?" Bonnie asked immediately knowing that something was wrong. "Is Elena okay?" She stood up and felt as if she had the flu, she felt as if everything sort of ached.

"Damon got bitten. It's really bad."

"Wait what?" Jeremy looked stunned, Bonnie though had never been really attached to Damon but she could tell that something was really wrong here. Caroline looked exceptionally distressed and she would only be that way if she cared about Damon or if Elena cared that much. And clearly she did. There were so many things that these three friends knew about each other without ever uttering a word. If it hadn't been for their obviously different appearances the three of them could have been triplets, they had been inseparable for almost as long as they'd lived.

"Tyler's at his place, he's looking through his family's journals hoping to find something but it doesn't look good." Caroline added finally and Bonnie frowned. If Tyler was in on trying to help Damon out it meant that something was definitely going on here.

"I'll go help him out, and I'll call Ric too." Jeremy got up and grabbed his jacket, Bonnie watched him go out into the sunlight and wondered how a day that had started out so bright and lazily could have turned into full-on vampire crises in less than a few hours. Story of her life, she thought as she forced Caroline to sit down and tell her exactly what had happened, and how much she'd missed.

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><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> _:) so... yeah, the idea to put Bonnie in here as well came about half way through the last part with Caroline, I figured that since I was on about the fact that the three girls were bff's ;) it would be good to put Bonnie's pov in there as well. Also I decided that using Bonnie was a good way to explain what I imagine went on with the whole breaking of the curse and Klaus and everything. Whether or not I'm going to kill Damon, well I'm not going to tell you what I've decided... yes I'm a cruel cruel bitch like that... haha... you'll all live... _

_The situation with Stefan is complicated I have to work that one out still... and then there's Matt that we have to deal with. _

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter... _

_Please Review... :)_


	4. Sing Me To Sleep

Bonnie was digging through her grandmother's boxes, not sure why she was going to so much trouble for Damon Salvatore, Caroline was stuck in a corner going through another box, turning her nose up every so often when she found something that she found gross or just completely strange and Bonnie couldn't blame her. Her grandmother hadn't just been a witch but the woman had been strangely fascinated by all sorts of ancient religions and cultures, and so she had a huge collection of strange things like chicken bone amulets and even some voodoo dolls. It was weird to be going through this stuff again, and Bonnie didn't think she would find anything that could possibly help Damon, or rather, help Elena keep Damon. Bonnie had stayed away from the boarding house for now, mainly because she was too exhausted to be surrounded by vampires, their energy was frustrating to be around it made her increasingly aware of the danger she was in whenever she was around them. Even Stefan, Tyler wasn't so bad, and it seemed with him she only felt the true extent of his power when it was getting close to the full moon, but something about him still set her teeth on edge.

As if he'd read their minds Tyler came walking into the room with Jeremy, and Bonnie could tell that they didn't have good news, Jeremy was frowning something he didn't do easily. Even when Jeremy was angry he usually kept himself calm and composed, or tried to at least. He was the type of person who would joke about an awkward situation just to keep himself from snapping at someone. Now though, he looked worried and frustrated and Bonnie knew that this wasn't going to be easy, nothing ever was. But Bonnie got the distinct feeling that no matter what they tried Damon wasn't going to come out of this alive.

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><p>She didn't know how it happened, or why but every time Damon had another fit of delusions she somehow found herself pulling him out of it. Guiding him back to the bed gently the way she was doing now, it seemed most of his hallucinations were focused on Stefan and Katherine but really Elena couldn't blame him for that. It wasn't like it was deliberate and they had both been his entire life for so long, he'd obsessed about the two of them, their betrayal and their love. Elena tried not to think about it too much, it was too tiring to do so anyway so instead she did her best to pull him out of it, to calm him and it didn't take much. Every time he realized who she was he complied very easily and would quietly fall asleep in her arms again. She had never been so devastated to see anyone so hurt. Damon no matter what a jerk he'd been in the past had always been there, had always been strong and constant and now he was curled up in the bed next to her pressing his head against her stomach and holding onto her for dear life. Elena did what she always did, she ran her hands through his hair, grateful for the hallucinations because he wasn't screaming in pain the way Rose had at the end. She was fearful for that, right now it seemed that Damon was so delirious he was unaware of any pain, but she didn't want him to hurt. She didn't want him to suffer through anything, she would endure it for him if she could but there was nothing she could do but sit here. And she felt helpless.<p>

She sat like that with Damon sleeping in her lap for what felt like hours, his sleep was restless and painful, when he started flinching and holding on for dear life Elena had to force herself not to cry. Her name on his lips had never been so heartwrenching all she could do was let him sit up so that he could lean his head against her chest.

"Elena?" She wiped away a tear before Damon could spot it, and she stopped herself from crying so Damon wouldn't hear the sadness in her voice. She didn't want him to be upset. But it didn't stop Stefan from seeing the tears she was holding back. He gave her an apologetic look and Elena thought it was so unfair that he thought she was only here because Damon was his brother, and her friend when the real reason would break his heart.

"Yes Damon." She answered as softly as she could, making her voice sound level and warm. He tried to sit up but he cringed and actually cried out in pain. Elena placed her hand over his and let him nearly crush her fingers through the pain, though she didn't care about that.

"I don't want you to be here." He moved anyway so that he was leaning against the pillows next to her and he could look her in the eye.

"Damon-" She answered sternly but he gazed back at her with sober eyes for the first time in what felt like hours.

"Elena listen to me very carefully. I don't want you to be here for this." Elena noticed that Stefan had stood up and was standing at the side of the bed listening to their conversation carefully.

"Damon I can't just let you-" She turned in the bed so that she was sitting on her knees and facing him.

"Elena, watching me die will kill you. I don't want that."

"But Damon I can't-" Tears came anyway now and she wanted so much to kiss him but he cringed again and she felt so guilty for putting him in this position.

"Elena, consider it my dying wish." He flashed her a grin and it was so typically Damon that Elena couldn't stop the sobs from coming, she buried her face in her hands and felt him put his arms around her, making her cry harder. This couldn't be the last time he held her, it just couldn't. It wasn't fair for her to have loved someone this much only for him to be taken away from her. It wasn't right.

"I can't leave you Damon." She cried into the crook of his neck and felt him shake.

"And I can't let you stay." He whispered into her ear and kissed her just below her earlobe. "I love you Elena." He said finally and then she felt him shift around her when she turned her head he was looking at Stefan meaningfully and Stefan looked distraught before he finally turned towards Elena. "Stefan get her out of here."

"What? No!" Elena looked from the one Salvatore brother to the other and Damon actually snickered. He couldn't be serious, but he knew just as well as she did that if it was left up to her she wouldn't leave this room. Damon knew and so he was forcing Stefan to 'remove' her from the situation. She suddenly was very angry at both of them. She looked into Damon's impossibly blue eyes then and didn't care for a moment that Stefan was there. She leaned forward and placed the softest of kisses on his lips, lingering there for a moment before pulling away. "I hate you for this." Tears were still in her eyes, but he smiled at her, if it weren't for the sweat on his brow and his gaunt face it would have been so perfectly normal as he placed his hands on her cheeks and rubbed away the tears with his thumbs. He placed a kiss on her forehead and Elena felt the tears come back to her anyway.

"You're allowed to." He said and then she was being pulled away from him, faster than she could register she was out of the room, and Elena realized that he must have nodded to Stefan to get her out of there, she was sobbing, heaving so hard that her chest hurt, she didn't know that vampires could cry so hard they felt breathless, that couldn't be right. Vampires didn't breathe, but she felt completely and utterly broken. She wanted to have Damon's arms around her, to have the smell of him on her skin and to feel his kisses all across her body. She wanted to tell him that she loved him. More than anything she wanted to tell him that.

She completely hated him for what he'd just done, he'd said goodbye to her. And then she sobbed harder, feeling the true meaning of his words and what had just happened and feeling heavy she curled up on the couch that Stefan had deposited her in and cried. It was all she could do, she couldn't even speak she was so heartbroken.

Stefan's hands were on her suddenly, as he pulled her to sit up and handed her a glass that was filled with blood. He looked at her carefully, she only stopped crying long enough to drink the glass and then afterwards she felt her body humming. She felt better even if she was still destroyed, the blood made her feel more awake, and in control even though she wasn't. It was no wonder to her now why vampires drank blood, the same reason alcoholics drank she supposed, it allowed them to forget, and it was a definite high that couldn't be compared to anything else. Stefan had his usual broody look on as he looked her over from head to toe.

"You should be with him. He shouldn't be alone."

"He's sleeping." Was all Stefan said and Elena nearly cried again, the memory of Damon's agonizing sleep haunting her already. He didn't truly sleep, she knew it was restless and full of anguish since he tossed his head constantly and clung to her and the sheets as if he were battling something. "How long?" Stefan asked her sternly and she looked up at him, she was confused now but Stefan still had that brooding look on her face, the one he wore for so many reasons that it was hard to figure which one was bothering him this time.

"What?"

"How long have you been in love with Damon?"

"Stefan-" _Forever_, she wanted to say forever. Because that would have been an honest answer, she had loved him for a long time now, she hadn't always liked him. But love- she wrapped her arms around herself, as if she could hold herself together physically. "I don't know." she answered him then. It was more fair to him than saying forever, that would have crushed him, and she didn't want to hurt Stefan. She had never meant to hurt Stefan, she still loved him, he was kind and good to her, and he had always been true to her. But she didn't love him the same way. Stefan looked- well she wasn't sure, it was an array of emotions that were hard to read on Stefan, hurt, was one of them. And then anger flashed past his eyes before he finally stood up and walked past her.

"You slept with him didn't you." She stood up so she could turn around and look him in the eye, although when she captured his eyes that seemed like the worst idea in the world. Stefan was beyond hurt, he was crushed and Elena hadn't wanted to do this to him. When they'd broken up before it had hurt them both, and she remembered why. As much as she loved someone else, she would always love Stefan too, not in the same way and not as powerfully but she loved him, she'd promised she would never hurt him and now here she was, the bully. Breaking his heart.

"Stefan I-" _I what?_ She thought; _I'm sorry? Yes I slept with Damon and I'm sorry? _But she wasn't sorry, she would never take it back, even if she had the chance.

"What Elena? What could you possibly say that could make this right? You slept with him. You lied to me, you cheated on me _with my brother. _And now he's dying!" He was being cruel, she knew it was true and he didn't have to say it but he emphasised the fact that Damon was close to death and he did it to hurt her. "and where does that leave us?"

"Stefan I never meant-"

"-to hurt us? Save it Elena. I've heard the speech before, I've heard it many times, I just never thought I would have to hear it from _you._" That was beyond painful, and she deserved all of it, all of his disdain and his anger, she deserved it but it didn't take away from the fact that she felt beyond lost. What she'd done had been so out of character, she wasn't the cheating type, she'd spent all this time preventing this and now she was stuck here, when she looked back up Stefan had left, to drive the point home that now she was alone. She had done exactly what she'd spent all this time trying to prevent, she'd played with both brothers. Loved both of them and now they were lost to her. The one she truly loved, the one that was her heart and soul was dying and the one that had been loyal to her, the one that she would always care for, the one that had been her first love hated her. She'd lost everything in the course of one night and just like Katherine she had brought it all on herself.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: Oh I know, I know... another sad and depressing chapter, and I do apologize to all you Die Hard Delena fans... If you are upset just bear with me, this story just kind of comes to me while I'm writing so I'm not sure where it's going yet. And I know this chapter is short, but I just loved where I ended up, so I decided to leave you all hanging there for now... yes you may hate me for it :) that's okay, I love you all anyway, and I shall be back with a next chapter soon hopefully, I work on Sunday but then I have three gloriously free days, so hopefully I'll get another chapter pumped out soon... <strong>

**Song is Sing Me To Sleep by Waking Ashland... it's very sad... that's probably why this chapter ended up being so depressing... **


	5. Sweet Dreams

Caroline was standing outside Bonnie's house waiting for Bonnie and Jeremy to come outside, they had each gotten an urgent phone call from Stefan who sounded angry and distraught and Caroline figured that he'd found out about Elena's feelings for Damon, even if they couldn't do anything for him, they should be there. Damon shouldn't be alone. Caroline got the fact that Stefan was mad at Elena. He had no one else to be angry at really, there was no doubt in her mind that Stefan loved Elena but right now he was hurt and he couldn't be mad at his brother. Damon was dying, being angry at him would be completely useless, even Stefan understood that, and so he was angry at Elena. Caroline sat on Bonnie's front porch considering all this. Feeling upset again, knowing that Elena would be heartbroken at all of this, knowing that all they had now was each other. It had always been the three girls, they'd been best friends through everything, absentee parents, divorces and deaths, vampires and witchcraft, there was nothing that could keep the three of them apart but that didn't mean that Elena wouldn't hurt. And Caroline wasn't sure if Elena would come out of it this time. She remembered the nightmares, the midnight calls, the pain that Elena had already been through. The last person in the world who deserved to lose the people she loved was Elena, she was generous and loving, and sacrificial. She didn't deserve any of this.

She heard footsteps coming up the pavement and the familiar scent of Tyler's cologne hit her before she looked up. He smiled at her warmly and Caroline, much to her own surprise got up and shortened the distance between them before she threw her arms around him and her lips crashed onto his. She just wanted to be with him, while she could. She didn't think she was really afraid of dying anymore, she was just afraid of being alone. Damon had been alone for so long and now he had Elena he was dying. The injustice of it gripped Caroline but she felt happy in Tyler's arms. Feeling his hands searching across her back, while one hand snaked up her shirt and the other rested just above her bum. She inhaled the scent of him as he returned the kiss in a slightly possessive way and she reveled in the fact that she was becoming much too hot for comfort, her skin was searing and he was sending her head reeling. When they parted lips it wasn't to separate entirely. Caroline held onto him and closed her eyes as Tyler leaned his forehead against hers, she smiled gently.

It was exactly what they both needed right now, the uncertainty of what might happen next was terrifying her and she thought Tyler was probably more worried than her, he didn't know if he could trust Stefan and Damon, he was the only werewolf in town and being surrounded by vampires and a witch and the council must be beyond disconcerting. But she would do anything to help Tyler, she would leave with him if she had to. She might have to, she wasn't sure what was supposed to happen now but all she knew was that she should hold onto Tyler as long as she got the chance to do that.

"Caroline?" She was brought out of her daze by the sound of Matt's voice when she opened her eyes and turned she saw Matt standing in the middle of the sidewalk staring back at her and Tyler, she wondered how long he'd been there and how much of all this she'd seen. He looked angry though, not hurt. But the sting of his betrayal washed all over her again, as long as she was with Tyler she forgot about being hurt so badly, about the fact that her own family would kill her when they got the chance. And she didn't know what Matt was capable of, how could she ever trust him, he had wooden bullets in his gun. She had no idea how far he would go if he decided that all vampires were evil. She was scared of Matt.

"What are you doing here Matt?"

"I came to talk to you, I figured you'd either be here or at the Salvatore's." He still looked pissed off and Caroline couldn't shake the feeling that she couldn't ever trust him again. No matter what he said. "Look Caroline I-"

"Matt, sorry to interrupt but we really don't have time. If you want you can follow us, we're going to the boarding house." Bonnie came out of the door, she was carrying a duffel-bag and handed it to Jeremy as they came down the porch before she turned to Tyler. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and handed her his ancestor's diary. Matt looked curious but still a little agitated, Caroline decided to ignore it and got into the car with Bonnie. She had expected Tyler to get in next to her but instead he closed the door and then leaned to talk through the window.

"I think Jeremy and I should ride with Matt." He looked at her seriously, ignoring her frown and kissing her on the cheek. Jeremy got out of the passenger seat and Caroline acrobatically moved to the front to sit next to Bonnie. Both girls were frowning severely as they looked into the rear-view mirror and watched the three guys get into Matt's car.

"What do you think they're talking about?"

"Now isn't really the time to be worried about that." Bonnie was clearly unhappy about the fact that Matt knew about her being a witch and Caroline couldn't blame her. "But I don't know. Us, I guess." She shrugged as she turned off the main road to the small, almost hidden road that lead to the boarding house. She was right though, now was not the time to worry about what the guys were discussing, even if it was about the fact that they were vampires and werewolves and Matt was going to go all Van Helsing on their asses. Elena needed them, and best friends, family came first.

* * *

><p>"What do you want Sabrina?"<p>

"Still with the nicknames Damon? You'd think being near death would make you see the error of your ways." Bonnie replied to the vampire in their usual banter. Elena had been sobbing downstairs and she had no doubt that Damon could probably hear it. Giving him a sense of normalcy was the least she could do though it wasn't instinctual. As much as she disliked being around vampires there was something about seeing Damon like this. It disturbed her, not as much as it did Elena but still. Damon, although technically dead, had always been so full of life.

"Oh just let me indulge myself while I still can." He gave her one of those grins and cringed while he moved.

"You've indulged plenty, now sit up." She pulled him, he was mostly dead-weight, she realized that Damon was a big useless lug at the moment, he was really sick. He was really dying and she needed to do what she could. There was no guarantee this would work at all, in fact Bonnie was seriously doubtful about it, especially being this close to Damon. She could feel the energy, whatever it was that made him alive, it was draining from him. Even worse it seemed saturated with something that she couldn't explain, like she could see or feel some kind of poison that was coursing through his being. She hadn't expected him to flinch so badly when she touched his chest, all she had done is put her hand on his chest to steady him while she fluffed up the pillows but he'd cringed and was now doubled over in pain as he cried out. Bonnie let him lean into her side and waited for it to pass, feeling increasingly worried. There was no doubting the fact that he was dying. She looked from the one Salvatore brother to the other, Stefan was standing at the side of the room, arms crossed, he looked severely beaten. Bonnie thought he shouldn't be here for this, it would break him just as much as it would Elena, they were brothers. They'd been brothers for over almost two centuries, as much as they hated each other, two centuries was a long time to live with each other. To lose that kind of a relationship in the course of a few days would be devastating. Bonnie couldn't think of what would happen to her if something happened to Elena or Caroline. She would break, kill herself, or just wither away. She wouldn't live through it.

When Damon finally settled Bonnie felt guilty for having to prop him up against the pillows, he should be laying down she thought, but the spell in the diary clearly said what had to be done. Bonnie still didn't think it would work but she had to try, being around Elena and Stefan only made her more determined to try, even if she didn't like Damon.

"Don't look so worried Bonnie. I'm not." He groaned as she finally leaned back and found that he was okay.

"Well you should be."

"Why are you doing this?"

"You know why." She said stubbornly, he shouldn't be asking her that in front of Stefan. It was for Elena, it was all for Elena's sake, her sanity. Caroline had been right, Bonnie had thought maybe her slightly manic friend was exaggerating but Elena was crushed and she wouldn't recover from this. She was grateful when Jeremy came in with Tyler and the duffel-bag. They had arrived later clearly, Matt must be downstairs, but she just needed Tyler, and probably Jeremy should be in here to help if anything went wrong.

Bonnie watched Damon carefully as she started putting everything in place, all the candles, the room was already exceptionally dark, the Salvatore house had been made in a dark wood that was beautiful but imposing and at night it made everything seem pitch black. Tyler and Jeremy lit the candles since she wanted to save her strength for this entire thing it was complicated and it seemed overly difficult, she was undoubtedly worried about what it would do to her system so shortly after she'd been fighting an original. She was undoing something that had been ingrained into vampire DNA by a curse thousands of years ago. The last thing she did was take Damon's hand in hers, and he actually smiled at her reassuringly, she didn't need to be a witch to know that he was saying goodbye to her. Damon, like herself, seriously doubted the effectiveness of this spell. He turned his head to his younger brother then and looked at him more seriously.

"Stefan. If this doesn't work-"

"Don't even Damon, I'm not going to be the one to kill you."

"Yes you are. If this doesn't work, I don't want to be laid up in here screaming my lungs out for hours. You put a stake through me before that you hear me?" It was an order, from an older brother to the younger. And Bonnie watched Stefan struggle with it, torn between his brother's dying wish and the love he bore for him. In the end Stefan just turned around and hung his head as he walked out the door.

"That probably won't be necessary you know." Bonnie turned to speak to Damon as she wrapped the long slender silver chain around Damon's infected arm. He looked at her curiously and nearly crushed her fingers when the pain surged through him. Damn him and his vampire strength. She had expected that, werewolves were allergic to silver bullets, putting silver to a werewolf bite could clean the wound for a little while and help ease the pain, but not before it gave the person a burning sensation.

"What do you mean?" He wheezed when he was alright, but Bonnie wouldn't let go of his hand, out of compassion plain and simple. She didn't think it was right that Damon seemed to be all alone in this. Even though he was the one who had forced the two people that cared the most out of the room.

"If this spell doesn't cure you, it will probably kill you. You'll exert yourself so badly your body will just give out." She explained, it was the same reason that she couldn't do powerful spells at a time, she wasn't even sure if Damon's body would last through the entire spell. When she'd read about it in the journal that Tyler had given her the only thing she could really compare it to was an exorcism ritual, and when did those ever go well? That was why she was seriously doubtful of the authenticity of the spell, and whether or not it would work. It could simply be a trick, like the dagger, and actually just kill Damon. But there were easier ways to kill a vampire than this.

"Well then, let's get this over with."

* * *

><p>"You didn't tell me you were going to have to change Tyler!" Caroline was actually mad at him. She knew how much pain he was in when he changed on a full moon, and now he was going to be forced to change into a wolf during a regular night, and Bonnie had informed him that it was going to hurt as bad as the first time. Caroline didn't want him to go through that.<p>

"Caroline we don't have a choice, _I _bit him, I have to be a wolf during the ceremony. My blood is what helps undo this."

"We don't even know if this will work. What if it backfires, what if you get hurt?" _What if you die?_ Caroline didn't utter that last question but it flocked through her mind incessantly and it wouldn't leave her alone. Why the hell hadn't he said something before?

"Caroline. I have to do this." He said steadily, lowering his voice and pulling her over to the side so they could talk more privately, which was ridiculous since everyone in this room had super hearing or could guess what it was they were talking about. "I have to make it right. Or at least try." She sighed then, still angry but she wouldn't risk not trying, she couldn't do that, not to Elena. It was already bad enough that they were watching Damon die, but to just _let _him die, without trying to save him was completely out of the question. If it had been Tyler she would want someone to do the same thing.

They went upstairs with Jeremy, Bonnie would need his help if anything went wrong and Caroline was bound and determined to stay through the whole thing even if Tyler thought she wouldn't. She hadn't seen Damon yet, but nothing could have prepared her for what she saw when she walked into that room. Damon's usually tall and muscular frame seemed to have diminished, his skin was grey and gaunt as if he was already half-dead and the brightness in his eyes that always made him look so mischievous and slightly dangerous was gone. It was just gone.

"Holy shit man!" Matt appeared from somewhere behind them, Caroline hadn't even realized that Matt had followed them up the stairs but at the sound of his voice Damon looked at them. Caroline put on her bravest face and moved through the room while Tyler started shedding himself of his shirt and pants, only wearing his boxers. Caroline was always good at pretending everything was fine, that was her strength, she could crack a joke at the worst of situations.

"What's wonderboy doing here?" Damon started but then coughed severely and Caroline turned her head, in part to look at Matt but mostly just so Damon didn't see her flinch at the pain in his face. Matt handed the journal to Bonnie and smiled nervously around the room.

"You left this downstairs." He said to Bonnie and then moved to go outside.

"He just came to point out the fact that you look like crap." Bonnie said casually as she walked over to Damon's desk and he let out a wheezing laugh. Clearly the idea was that they pretend nothing was going on for the meantime at least.

"That bad huh?" Damon leaned his head back against the headboard and frowned, he was clearly in a lot of pain, his hand was gripping the sheets and Caroline instinctively took it in hers, her fingers could withstand his vampire grip as he held onto her hand now as if his life depended on it. Elena had said that Rose had been screaming and crying but Damon had always been more of the suffer in silence type of guy.

"No, not unless you count the sweat and the weird grey colour you're turning." Caroline remarked lightly, joking was always her strong suit, she could pretend that there was nothing wrong. She could definitely do that, even though he was holding her hand and he was clearly burning up, his temperature was all wrong and he was dying. There was no doubt in her mind that Damon was near to death. God he looked like he _was _death. He snickered again and turned to look as Bonnie handed Caroline a big glass of blood and nodded towards Damon. Caroline held it to his lips and got him to drink it completely, she didn't think it helped though, he didn't look at all better.

"You ready for this?" Bonnie said in an undertone to Tyler while she had him drink something too and he shrugged when he was done. Caroline noticed that there were little silver chains linked all around him and she didn't want to even think about what they were for.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

* * *

><p>Caroline had never noticed how terrifying Bonnie could be when she was working a spell, this one in particular seemed incredibly gruelling, and Bonnie didn't look like herself, all the flames in the little candles had swollen to an abnormal size and as they did the temperature in the room became sweltering. Caroline held onto Damon's hand who squeezed every now and then as the pain surged through him but they weren't even at the worst part yet. Bonnie was muttering her spell that forced Tyler to turn and he was screaming over the sounds of her chanting, this was really creepy, since the only light in the room was coming from the dozens of candles spread across Damon's bedroom floor. The minute Tyler had changed Damon was the one who started screaming, there was yelping coming from the grey wolf that was Tyler but Damon's screams were by far the worst thing that Caroline had ever heard in her life. He was in agonizing pain, he had to be if he was clutching at Caroline the way he was.<p>

Caroline was so focused on Damon's contorting form that she hadn't even noticed that Bonnie had done something to Tyler as she moved over and laid her hands on Damon. He folded in ways that were completely unnatural until Caroline was forced to let go of him and move backwards. There was just no room for her on his huge bed while he was twisting that way. She felt like crying but she forced herself not to, instead she retreated to the space in the room that was occupied by Jeremy who was frowning. Jeremy never really frowned, he was always the happy-go-lucky kid, the kid who made jokes just so he didn't have to think about the seriousness of a situation, Caroline knew because she did the same thing. But now the two of them were attached to what was going on in this room and there was no escaping it.

Damon's back arched in a completely unnatural way and then he was lifted off the bed entirely, Bonnie's hands never left him and he was screaming as if her touch was burning him. At first the screams hadn't made sense but now he was beginning to form words and it scared Caroline more than anything. He was begging Bonnie to stop, begging for her to kill him and Caroline felt the tears come to her. She wasn't crying or sobbing but the tears were running freely down her cheeks as she put a hand to her mouth to stop herself from screaming herself. She didn't know what to do, she was torn between sparing Damon anymore pain or letting Bonnie finish. If this worked then it would be worth it, she forced herself to reconcile with that but she closed her eyes but then opened them immediately, closing her eyes left only the sound of Damon's screaming and that was somehow worse. She looked through the room instead and focused on Tyler who was still in his wolf form, he was cowering in a corner though and shaking and making that awful whining sound that dogs do.

She wanted to go towards him but then there was the fear of being bitten herself. She hated this suddenly, unsure of why she'd been so determined to stay here, and now she was fastened to this place, forced to stick it out. She felt a sudden relief as Jeremy reached out and took her hand in his, he was still frowning and there was nothing the two of them could do but stand there in their corner and wait it out. So that's what they did for what seemed like hours before Damon's awful pleas just turned to silence and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. It was another long while though before he came back down onto the bed, Caroline knew it was over though because Tyler had changed back, she rushed over to him, just wanting to be close to him. He wasn't as shaken up as she thought he would be, he wasn't shaking or disoriented like the last time, he also didn't seem exhausted as she pulled his clothes over to where he was and pulled him into her arms. He didn't even bother with the hugs or talking he kissed her and pulled her into his lap aggressively and Caroline welcomed it, feeling relieved to have some kind of contact again. But they were torn from their little haven at the sound of Jeremy's voice.

"Christ." That didn't sound good at all and Caroline's heart sank at the words that she knew were coming. She had expected them ever since she'd seen Damon. There was just no way someone came back from that.

"It didn't work." Bonnie was crying, leaning her head onto the side of the bed and holding onto Damon's hand. Caroline was surprised to see Bonnie so upset but she knew that her friend was probably exhausted and drained and way too determined to help Elena to think straight right now. Jeremy saw the same thing as he peeled her away and took her up in a fireman hold and carried her out of the room. Caroline moved over to Damon and felt the tears fall down her cheek again.

She'd seen Damon asleep before, he'd slept in her bed and she was surprised how peaceful he looked now, the wound was still there on his arm, it didn't look like it had healed but his skin wasn't so weird anymore, it looked like marble stone with the delicate lines that were embedded in him. She couldn't comprehend that Damon could die, all the times they'd gotten threats and gotten into fights and battles even Damon had been the one to save everybody. Reluctant as he was to admit that he liked being the good guy, Damon had always been the rock everyone counted on. Caroline looked up from where she'd been staring at Damon's face and then reached for the towel that had been there. She wiped the remaining sweat off his brow and chest and then stood aside quietly as she waited for Elena to come up the steps.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: <strong>Please, please, please don't be mad! I know it's awful to kill off a wonderful character like Damon but I didn't realize it until I had written it and then it just all came spilling out like wordvomit... sorry if you are disappointed but I do so love a tragic ending.

I hope you can appreciate the creative process that went into this... there will be another chapter, so please keep reading and review... especially on this ending...

inspired by Jesus Chris by Brand New

It's all good if you hate me for this...

This isn't the last chapter though... haha have I got your attention?... *evil laughter ensues*

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	6. If I Lay Here

Elena didn't know what she had expected when she walked into that room, she had thought she would go hysterical or crazy, she thought at least she would scream but instead there were just tears. She had been masking her sobs so Damon wouldn't hear her and for some reason she still felt as if he shouldn't hear her cry. His eyes were closed and his skin looked like intricately carved marble as he laid on the bed and Elena just felt tears streaming down her cheeks. She shuddered at how peaceful Damon looked, the softness of his sleeping face as he dreamt peacefully, it lingered there, as if he was just asleep. But the tinge of his skin and the harshness of the daylight streaming through the windows told her otherwise. And the grief struck her, the true extent of her loss as she thought of the sweet taste of his skin and the warmth of his arms around her.

And the sound of his voice, the sound of her name on his lips would never be heard again and now she did cry, she didn't sob or scream but she let herself cry as she crawled into the bed with Damon and held onto him. There was nothing in this world that could mend the loss she felt right now, she had lost the person who was so much a part of her it hurt. She lost him, his impossibly blue eyes and that awful smirk, and the softness of his hands. Damn him and his heroic antics, trying to save her, everything he'd ever done was to save her. And now he was dead. She cried again and laid there unable to do anything else but hold onto him, hold onto the man that she loved. The only man who would ever truly be one half of her. She had lost the other half of herself, and now she felt completely and utterly lost.

* * *

><p>Elena was in the bed with Damon for hours, first she cried and then the crying turned to soft little whimpers until finally she was just laying there. Eyes open, she didn't even blink and Caroline was starting to get worried. This wasn't right, Caroline had never seen Elena this broken and it broke her heart. Elena was frozen, and Caroline could only vaguely comprehend it, she couldn't imagine being so hurt you couldn't move. But this wasn't right, she was laying on Damon's chest as if she expected him to move, as if until he did she couldn't function and Caroline thought that might be entirely true. Caroline didn't know what to do, she'd never lost someone the way Elena had, she'd never felt this kind of loss and grief and she didn't know what to do or say to make things right. She didn't believe there was anything that would make this right. Make it make sense. She moved around the bed and knelt down on the other side of Damon so she could look Elena in the eye. She shouldn't have done that, Elena's dark eyes were lost in her grief and they looked empty. Elena always had these big beautiful soulful eyes that Caroline had always been slightly jealous of but now she just looked so damaged.<p>

"Elena I'm-"

"Don't. Don't say you're sorry. Don't say it."

"Elena, don't do this to yourself." Caroline placed her hand over Elena's on Damon's chest.

"I can't- I can't move."

"Elena, Damon loved you. He wouldn't want you to do this, you're clinging to his body but that's not him."

"Caroline, I can't move." Tears came back to her. "I can't do anything, I can't bring him back. And I can't _be _without him. I don't know what to do, I don't know how this happened, and I don't know how to fix it. I can't fix myself, I don't know- I just-"

"Oh Elena." Caroline reached out and took Elena's hand in both of hers. She didn't know what to say to her, she knew there was nothing to comfort Elena.

"I got one day. I was really, really happy for one whole day. He was making love to me in this bed two nights ago. And now he's dead. And I- I can't move. So I'm not going to."

"Okay." Caroline didn't know what else to say so instead she rocked back on her heels and sat there holding Elena's hand for as long as she needed to.

* * *

><p>Elena couldn't move from the place that she'd settled in, she couldn't cry or be hysterical or be angry at Damon or Bonnie or even Tyler right now. She just couldn't, she knew that everyone was waiting for her to do something. Her not moving was unsettling to everyone and even though she didn't want that she just couldn't bring herself to move. She'd lost any sense of purpose or drive and mostly it was just because she didn't know what to do. She just didn't know. Where was she supposed to go from here? Her love for Damon hadn't ended with his death and that was what hurt so much, all she could ever imagine wanting was him. Just him. She didn't need anything else, and since the only thing she needed was gone, now she was stuck here in this place that was making everyone else uncomfortable and worried. She didn't know how to explain to Caroline the complete and utter malfunction that was occurring right now. How could she possibly understand? Elena didn't want her to understand. She understood how people died of broken hearts, it was like losing a limb, except it felt like she had lost her heart. Her core had disappeared with Damon and she had nothing left of herself to keep her running.<p>

And so she would just stay here, like she had said to Caroline, all she could do was lay here and hope for something to change. But right now all she wished for was that she could disappear, like Damon, maybe she could just fade away and be nothing. She felt like nothing, empty and hollow. Maybe she could just go away, if she stayed here long enough.

* * *

><p>Bonnie woke up next to Jeremy, she recognized the spicy smell of his cologne before she even opened her eyes and she stretched herself in his arms, feeling the soreness of her bones and the ache in her muscles and then she remembered the futility of her efforts. She remembered Elena and Damon and she remembered how Damon hadn't woken up and she sat up in the bed. Jeremy sat up with her and checked his watch before he settled his arms around her again.<p>

"How long have I been sleeping?" This part of her powers were completely frustrating, after a spell like this she would simply be knocked out and sleep for hours on end without even realizing and having any sense of time. Her body needed to recuperate but it was disheartening when she knew, she could feel that her friends needed her.

"Just a couple of hours." She got up out of the bed not caring about the fact that she was still wearing the same outfit and that she probably desperately needed a shower and headed out the unfamiliar room into the hallways of the boarding house.

When she came into the room all she saw was Elena lying over Damon's chest and Caroline on the other side of him kneeling at the edge of the bed and holding Elena's hand. Elena wasn't crying or sobbing, she seemed unnaturally still and Bonnie glanced over at Caroline who gave her a meaningful and tear-filled look. Bonnie crawled into the bed behind Elena and wrapped her arms around her best friend. She knew loss, she'd experienced it before and she knew the grief that Elena was feeling, though she knew that this was worse. She and Damon had this _thing _that was hard to explain unless you witnessed it. And now Damon was gone, that was difficult to digest even for Bonnie, Damon had always been. Well, Damon. There were no other words for his vibrancy, and the way that even when he was being completely impossible his presence made you feel safer. Bonnie had never been able to explain that, why Damon exuded such a sense of strength and power and yet he felt almost safe.

Bonnie felt Elena shake and start to cry again and Bonnie held on a bit tighter, it was all she could do. She knew the pain, the sense that everything had been taken away. Just ripped away from under your feet and the person who was usually there to catch you was the one you had lost. Bonnie felt tears come to her at the memory of losing her grandmother, the sense that she was completely and utterly alone overcame her again and she moved her hand over Elena and Caroline's. The three of them interlinked over the loss of Damon and that was all they could do. Is stay here until Elena was ready to try and pick up the pieces.

* * *

><p>It was only when it started getting dark again that the three girls started to talk again, Caroline sat there quietly and hoped that Elena would be alright to get up and move, maybe leave this room and get changed. They couldn't stay like this, even Caroline saw the dreadfulness in that the three girls were poured over Damon's body as if it was still him and Caroline didn't believe it was anymore though she was keeping it to herself. She couldn't begin to comprehend the sense of loss that Elena felt right now, and though Caroline had cared for Damon she had never loved him in the way that Elena did.<p>

"Why did he do this?" Elena finally said after they'd been chatting about random things for a few moments. The room was hot and had an orange glow to it because of the setting sun that was shining through the large windows. "What was he thinking?"

"I don't think he was thinking Elena. He was trying to save me and Tyler, and save you." Caroline spoke softly, resting her chin on her arm on the edge of the bed.

"He never thought things through. He was pretty stupid like that." Bonnie snickered and managed to get Elena to close her eyes and smile.

"How could he do this? How could he leave us like this?" By us she meant her. Caroline knew that Elena felt left behind, felt alone and Caroline couldn't really blame her. Bonnie had Jeremy and Caroline had Tyler and though they were best friends nothing could ever compare to being loved by the person who moved you so deeply it changed the way you viewed the world. Elena started to cry again, really cry, her eyes pinched shut and she clung to her friends' hands as she sobbed. Caroline couldn't hide the tears that were falling down her cheeks and she heard Bonnie sniffling from behind Elena as the three girls stayed locked in each other's grief and the room went dark with the fall of the night.

"You guys are _such _girls." Caroline's eyes flashed up to where Damon's face was and she thought for a good long moment that she'd imagined it but Damon was looking at all three of them with an amused smile playing across his face and his eyes more blue than ever and Caroline couldn't comprehend what had just happened. "Really all that weeping for little old me?" He grinned and Caroline noticed that his voice was raspy and he actually looked incredibly tired but he was smiling. Damon was smiling, and talking.

Caroline flung herself at him, completely unaware of what she was doing and she felt Bonnie's arms around them too, she didn't think Damon would ever be a fan of group-hugs but this time he seemed to be making an exception as he laughed. He laughed. Caroline found herself marveling at every movement he made. He shouldn't be alive, he'd been dead. Like really, really dead. This was by far the strangest thing that she'd ever seen, and she was a vampire so the statement was meaningful.

Caroline suddenly realized that her presence was completely unnecessary at the moment since Elena looked completely paralyzed still, she looked empty and glazed over and Caroline imagined it would take some alone-time with Damon for her to fully grasp the fact that she hadn't lost him. Caroline grabbed Bonnie by the hand and pulled her off the bed and out the room, closing the door behind them and leaving the two of them in peace. She sighed in sudden relief and turned to look at Bonnie in the darkened hallway, she was still crying.

"That really happened? You saw that right?" Bonnie giggled in between her sniffles and Caroline laughed with her as they moved through the darkened hallway of the boarding house and she couldn't help but smile. After all the tears and the crying and the worry over Elena everything seemed to have dropped and become light again.

"Yeah I did." Caroline answered but then turned to Bonnie in all seriousness. "How the hell did that happen though."

"The spell must take a few hours, or maybe he has to die before he can come back. I'm not sure. I'll look into it but right now I don't really care." She laughed again and wiped away the tears as Jeremy came out one of the rooms and she went towards him. Caroline smiled to herself as she bounded down the stairs to find Tyler.

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><p>Caroline hadn't expected to be so relieved to see Tyler but she literally took a breath as if she'd never done that before and sank into his arms on the couch and nestled herself into his chest.<p>

"Did I hear that right? Is Damon okay?" He asked her, quietly speaking the words into her hair and Caroline lifted her eyes to look into his. Those big puppy eyes, she smiled and nodded and then held on to the fact that everything was going to be alright and she was safe right here. As long as she stayed here. She cried, finally, whimpers escaping from her throat for the first time all night and she covered her eyes for a second as Tyler moved them to sit up.

"Hey, hey what happened?"

"Damon's going to be fine."

"Well that's good right?" Tyler chuckled and Caroline nodded leaning into his warm frame. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him pull her into his lap but he leaned back a bit to look at her. She placed a hand on his cheek.

"Don't ever get yourself killed." Caroline knew it sounded kind of stupid, and considering the fact that he was a werewolf and she was a vampire, it was a slightly ridiculous request to make but she needed to make it. She didn't ever want to think about what would happen if she lost him. She wasn't nearly as strong and put together as Elena was, and Elena had been completely and utterly broken. Caroline knew if it ever happened to her she would shatter, she wouldn't recuperate from it. She'd be worse off than Elena was. She didn't ever want to go through it. Tyler just chuckled and tilted her chin up to look at him more clearly.

"I'll do my best." He smiled and then kissed her. It was more than Caroline could have ever wished for.

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><p>Elena was staring back at Damon as he said her name, she felt breathless, and frozen. Damon was looking at her, with his blue eyes dazzling her even in the darkness of the night. She didn't know how this was possible but she was afraid to move or say anything in case she was imagining it. She needed it to be real, wanted it with every fibre of her being. When he reached out to touch her it was almost too much to bare. His touch scorched her, burned through her as if it had broken through her and she could feel again.<p>

"Damon" His name came out in a broken whisper and she closed her eyes finally allowing herself to bask in the feeling of his hand on her skin, she leapt forward and held onto him allowing herself to sob but in between her sobs she kissed every inch of his skin that was available to her. She repeated his name over and over again and told him she loved him so many times it almost lost it's meaning Damon pulled away just long enough so he could kiss her. Sweetly and more softer than he'd ever kissed her before. It was the most chaste and sweetest thing he could have done and it invoked more tears from Elena. All she'd been doing all day was crying and she didn't care anymore. She was home.

"I love you Elena." His voice was raspy and he looked just a little tired but he smiled at her.

"You ever do that to me again, and I'll kill you myself." he chuckled and Elena cried over that too. Everything about him was so beautiful and breathtaking and so, so precious. Elena didn't want to waste a moment's breath on anything or anyone else. She let Damon push her back so he was lying on top of her, she couldn't believe how lovely it felt to have him on top of her. To feel the weight of him on her and the feeling of his breath on her skin, the way he smelled, the softness of his hair and skin. The feeling she got when he placed butterfly kisses as he trailed down her body. She forgot everything else and let herself linger here, let herself stay here with him. Those three words were said too often and couldn't possibly describe what she felt for Damon the devotion and the undying passion she had for him.

If all she could do right, was be here with Damon, just be here, she would do it forever.

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><p><strong>Author's note: <strong>_I don't know about you people but I've been balling my eyes out writing this chapter, of course it doesn't help that I've been listening to Katy Perry's Thinking of You and Chasing Cars sung by Sara Ramirez, Chandra Wilson and Kevin McKidd, (Yes I'm also a Grey's Anatomy fan) but honestly that song is just... *sniffles* _

_Anyway... this might be the end of this,... i do have another idea that popped up about halfway through but I might continue it in a completely separate story... _

_I hope you enjoyed it so far... Thank you again to everyone who subscribed and has been following this, and thank you for all your reviews... they mean a lot :) please continue to review my works and I love you all for putting up with me through all this crazyness... _


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